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Bali,
Indonesia—The
United Nations is pessimistic that the “adaptation fund”
being developed under UN climate agreements will be
operationalized in the ongoing conference here in Bali
to urgently help poor countries deal with the adverse
effects of climate change.
The
adaptation fund is expected to finance climate-change
projects in the developing countries, which are severely
affected by low agricultural output and water supply,
apart from increasing frequency and intensity of
droughts, storms and floods, and rising sea levels.
“It is
urgent that we decide here on how to make the fund
operational so that perhaps in as little as a year, real
resources for adaptation can begin to flow to developing
countries,” UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
executive secretary Yvo de Boer told reporters here on
the third day of the conference.
De Boer
said the adaptation fund comes from a 2-percent levy on
the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
projects. Between 2008 and 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol
ends, the fund could be between $80 million and $300
million a year.
The CDM
permits industrialized countries to invest in
sustainable-development projects in developing countries
and thereby generate tradable emission credits. It is
estimated that CDM activities in the pipeline in 2006
generated investment of about $25 billion.
De Boer
stressed that climate- change impacts are already being
observed and that there are available adaptation
options.
“The
time for implementing adaptation action has come. The
creation of a higher order of magnitude of sufficient,
predictable, additional and sustainable funding will
have to come through negotiations on a future regime
post-2012,” he said.
“The
UNFCCC is willing to assist developing countries prepare
their national adaptation strategies. Delay in action on
adaptation is a direct attack on the poor as they are
the ones worst affected by global warming,” he said.
The 187
countries represented here for the climate-change summit
are also discussing on which institution is going to
manage the adaptation fund.
The
current proposal at the plenary is to have the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) of the World Bank administer
the fund. This had earlier been opposed by some
developing countries, which feel they do not have a
strong voice at the World Bank and, therefore, at the
governing council of GEF.
Another
sticking point during the negotiations here is the call
from developing countries for a greater commitment by
richer nations is discussing the possibility of setting
up a fund that would help transfer technology to help
poor countries fight global warming.
“Rich
countries need to support developing countries in terms
of technology transfer and funding,” said Emil Salim,
head of the Indonesian climate negotiators. “They should
take the lead to combat climate change because the
industrial revolution initiated the increases in
carbons, thus the developed countries are responsible
for this.”
The Bali
climate conference which started Monday for the annual
UN climate conference aimed to launch a two-year
negotiating process to seal a deal to replace the 1997
Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
The
conference covers four core issues, including ways to
reach a consensus on climate adaptation, mitigation to
curb sources of greenhouse gas emissions, the transfer
of technology from developed to developing countries and
a financing scheme to curb the impacts of climate
change. |
